STARCRYSTAL, EPISODE I - MERTACTOR: THE VOLENTINE GAMBIT The planet is Mertactor/District 268 of the Spinward Marches, located at the fringe of the Imperium. The assignment is simple and profitable - recover a flashy artifact recently taken from a representative of DerBonne Merchants, L.I.C., and return it to Baron Edkos Volentine, a corporate director. You've got two days before your passage home, the Far Trader "Arax House," is loaded with cargo and ready to leave. There's not really enough time, but it couldn't hurt to look around - the Mertactor out back is supposed to be fairly scenic, and you might get lucky. Baron Volentine could be a useful man to make happy! Written by Jim Long. Program and System Design: Terry Gray and Jeff Billings. Continuity and Physical Systems: Ken Maniscalco. Copyright 1985 by Ba'Rac Limited. All Rights Reserved. Marc Miller (FarFuture@aol.com) has graciously agreed to release Starcrystal, Episode I as freeware. Starcrystal, Episode I was originally written for TRAVELLER - a science fiction role-playing game that was first published in 1977. Over twenty years later TRAVELLER is alive and well, and is currently entering its fifth edition. Look for it at a hobby or comic shop near you. If you'd like to write your own text adventures for TRAVELLER, the authoring software is freely available, and easily downloaded from the Interactive Fiction Archive at: ftp.gmd.de/if-archive Many thanks to Charles Turley for his assistance in the conversion and release of these games as freeware. Enjoy, Paul Sanders 8/18/98